Tablets for streaming to TV

HeavyChevy75

HeavyChevy75

Podunk FL
Wondering which tablet is the best one for streaming movies to the television. I don't want to replace my laptop at this point but my laptop can't stream movies to tv. I am looking at IPAD but not sure.

I do have a kindle fire but that isn't really a tablet.
 
aps45819

aps45819

24/7 Single Dad
If you want to connect a High Def stream to your TV, you need a device with a HDMI output connector.
 
GURPS

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
the iPad has an adapt


what is the source for your content ?


Netfliks, Hulu ?


I use a Western Digital Live TV to play movie files from my PC, play shows from Netflicks ........ it will also log into Hulu Plus and others

there is also the Roku ....
 
GURPS

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
ok the device I mentioned does not have general web browsing even though you can get on facebook
 
HeavyChevy75

HeavyChevy75

Podunk FL
I have tried to connect my laptop before and it doesn't work. My laptop also has quite a bit of application development software on it so it runs a bit slow.
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
HeavyChevy75 said:
Wondering which tablet is the best one for streaming movies to the television. I don't want to replace my laptop at this point but my laptop can't stream movies to tv. I am looking at IPAD but not sure.

I do have a kindle fire but that isn't really a tablet.
Click to expand...

I use my iPad to stream content to my TV quite often, it's pretty easy and works well. With an iPad 2 or later (or an iPad Mini), you can airplay mirror (using WiFi) pretty much anything that appears on the iPad screen as is onto the TV (using an Apple TV box). A lot of apps also support video streaming.

You can also use a wired connection between the iPad and a TV (with a converter and HDMI cable).

There are lots of sources for movies and TV shows. You can drag and drop movies or shows that you have on your computer onto the iPad. Lots of networks have apps that will let you watch a lot of their content (TNT, TBS, ABC, HBO, Cartoon Network, ESPN, Discovery etc.) There are also apps like Netflix and Crackle.

I'd note though that the HBO app for some reason disables the airplay mirroring so that you can't watch HBO content on your TV via the iPad. You can watch pretty much anything you want from HBO on the iPad, but can't stream it to a TV. :frown: The other apps I've used allow you to stream easily to a TV.
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
Personally, I wouldn't want to stream from the internet to a tablet over wifi and then stream from the tablet to the TV (or other device) over wifi. Seems like a high probability of bandwidth issues/lots of caching/slow-downs/etc.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
HeavyChevy75 said:
Wondering which tablet is the best one for streaming movies to the television. I don't want to replace my laptop at this point but my laptop can't stream movies to tv. I am looking at IPAD but not sure.

I do have a kindle fire but that isn't really a tablet.
Click to expand...

iPAD only streams to Apple TVs... through an app called Airplay..

Unless you wire to it, which iPad also doesn't have an output.

Samsung Tablets use AllShare, and you have a Samsung Smart TV you can stream to it.

iPad will stream to other "AirPlay Ready" devices, but don't think any TV other than Apple TV has the capability.

Both of these systems (and others) use your home wireless connection to connect all of your devices without going out to the internet to interface or share data.

I have AirPlay on our iPad and can stream audio to my Yamaha receiver, and have "AirPlayIt" on my PC so I can stream music (not sure about video) from my PC to the iPad.

AllShare on my Samsung SmarTV and our Samsung phones we can do the same sharing all of our data and streaming to our TV, and I believe do the same between the PC, phones and TV (but haven't tried it yet), but I don';t have a Samsung Receiver so would only hear through the TV speakers unless I want to run another set of cables through the wall for audio back to the receiver from the TV.
 
Last edited:
Tilted

Tilted

..
ylexot said:
Personally, I wouldn't want to stream from the internet to a tablet over wifi and then stream from the tablet to the TV (or other device) over wifi. Seems like a high probability of bandwidth issues/lots of caching/slow-downs/etc.
Click to expand...

I understand that concern and I'm sure it's a problem for some people, but I haven't noticed a problem (even with video streaming which would seem the most likely case in which a problem would arise, most other kinds of content shouldn't create an issue).

Sometimes I'm just streaming content (e.g. a movie) that's already on the iPad though. And sometimes I'm mirroring stuff that doesn't involve video.
 
B

Booboo3604

Active Member
Tilted said:
You can also use a wired connection between the iPad and a TV (with a converter and HDMI cable).
Click to expand...

Can you please tell me which converter you use? I bought a docking station that you supposedly could push video to your tv through and could never get it to work. Customer service said it was the app (Netflix). I would really like to be able to hook up my ipad to my TV for tv and movie watching. Thanks in advance!
 
A

abcxyz

New Member
If you are going to do this often, a cheap Blu Ray player may work better. I think mine was $99 at Target and it can stream every thing any of the tablets can, better.
 
ylexot

ylexot

Super Genius
Booboo3604 said:
Can you please tell me which converter you use? I bought a docking station that you supposedly could push video to your tv through and could never get it to work. Customer service said it was the app (Netflix). I would really like to be able to hook up my ipad to my TV for tv and movie watching. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

If it is because of the app, no adapter in the world will help you. :shrug:
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
Booboo3604 said:
Can you please tell me which converter you use? I bought a docking station that you supposedly could push video to your tv through and could never get it to work. Customer service said it was the app (Netflix). I would really like to be able to hook up my ipad to my TV for tv and movie watching. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I don't use a converter myself, I stream everything wirelessly (through a $100 Apple TV box). But here are the convertors from Apple for VGA output and for HDMI output. I suspect that you could find cheaper 3rd party converters. Maybe by searching Amazon?

If one of those is what you tried and it didn't work with Netflix, please let me know. I'm curious to know if that's the case because the Netflix app doesn't block me from streaming it wirelessly to my TV. The HBO app does, so I'd guess it also won't work with a wired connection.

Just in case you have the newest iPad or an iPad Mini, here's the Lightning to VGA converter and the Lightning to HDMI converter. They're quite pricey and I fear there may not be 3rd party alternatives for them yet.
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
abcxyz said:
If you are going to do this often, a cheap Blu Ray player may work better. I think mine was $99 at Target and it can stream every thing any of the tablets can, better.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that? With a tablet you can stream stuff from browser windows (and lots of other stuff). Do Blu Ray players have channels from the major networks that allow you to stream their content when you want - TNT, ABC, TBS, ESPN, Lifetime, History Channel, Discovery, A&E, NBC, etc.? I ask because I really don't know. I have a Blu Ray player that streams some stuff (e.g. Netflix), but it's a year or two old and I've not looked at the latest Blu Ray players.
 
Tilted

Tilted

..
ylexot said:
If it is because of the app, no adapter in the world will help you. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Yeah, but I'd be surprised if the Netflix app doesn't allow mirroring to a TV over a wired connection. I have no problem mirroring it wirelessly. I just tried it to confirm - I wouldn't normally do that because Netflix is one of the few (3rd party) channels that the Apple TV box has built in, so anytime I wanted to watch Netflix on the TV I'd just use that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top